


Little Birdy

by hinatasmother



Category: InFamous Series, inFAMOUS (Video Games), inFAMOUS: Second Son
Genre: 13 Year Old Delsin, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Curdun Cay, Curdun Cay Station, De-Aged Characters, Friendship, Lengthened Timeline, Mental Illness, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-10 00:28:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5561800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinatasmother/pseuds/hinatasmother
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Delsin had been discovered by the D.U.P. several years before the events of Second Son. Just after his parents had died in a fatal car crash, Delsin is just a teenage boy with a knack for painting. However, as Brooke Augustine forces him to absorb more and more powers, and in turn, more and more disturbing memories, Delsin finds out there is only so much torment, one person can handle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When It Happened

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This story will diverge from the canon plot on the inFamous games. I have decided to lengthen the time between inFamous 2 and Second Son as well as have Delsin imprisoned at thirteen! If that will anger you, please refrain from reading. Thank you loves.

 

Delsin had been tagging since the moment he could hold a crayon. Colorful wax murals decorated every surface his chubby child hands could reach. Washable markers turned out to be more resilient than the package preached, much to his mother’s dismay, and sidewalk chalk only kept adolescent hands at bay for so long. So whether he was painting the living room walls, or lining the interior of the longhouse with permanent marker, Delsin would always be found near a bare wall, tool of choice in hand.

Reggie, being the upstanding citizen he was raised to be, always knew where to find his younger brother when he was ‘up to no good’, and while the two brothers remained on good terms for the most part, it never ceased to amaze the elder, just how irritating Delsin could be. Whether he found his younger brother practicing parkour on the fish cannery roof, or adding yet another ‘masterpiece’ to their mural covered hall. Reggie was always there to rat-out Delsin to their parents. The two adults always took these acts of rebellion with stride, calling it the Rowe version of cops and robbers.

 It wasn’t until their parents died, that Delsin’s childhood habit became an act of rebellious vandalism. After the fated day when the Washington weather caused the Rowe parents’ car to swerve off the road into the mountain side, killing them both, Betty took the role as Delsin’s guardian while Reggie was away at college. Without his older brother or his parents to console him, Delsin’s once bright and vibrant personality became shy and scared, the only way he could get his whirling thoughts out of his mind was to paint them on the walls that weren’t his own. Reggie would never forgive himself for reprimanding the younger Rowe so much.

 

 

_________________

 

Delsin woke up to the warm spring sun streaming through his partially closed blinds. The soft sound of Betty bustling around the kitchen, cooking pancakes drifted into his room as he blinked sleepily. Slowly sitting up, Delsin began to kick the constraining sheets off his legs. Once he freed himself, Delsin stood up and began to lazily drag himself downstairs, while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Good morning Betty,” Delsin muttered mid-yawn as he turned into the small kitchen lit with sunlight. Stretching his lanky arms above his head, Delsin’s gaze shifted towards the surprisingly occupied kitchen table. ‘Reggie!’ he gasped, running with his arms outstretched towards his older brother. 

“Hey bud!” Reggie laughed, bringing the smaller boy under his muscular arm while scraping his knuckles on the younger’s scalp. “How as my little vandal been while I was gone?” Reggie asked while Delsin giggled and squirmed, attempting to escape the older’s grasp. 

 “I’ve been good! I’ve been good!” he shouted breathily from laughing too hard. “I missed you, Reg!” Delsin said, finally escaping from Reggie’s hold. He looked up at his brother’s suddenly solemn face, “How long are you staying for?” Delsin asked quietly. 

Sighing deeply, Reggie gazed down at his younger brother. _He’s growing up faster than any kid should._ “Not very long, Del. I’m sorry,” he said watching Delsin’s face fall. “It’s only until the summer, then I’ll be home with you.”

 “But you’ll go back in the fall!” Delsin shouted, tears forming in his eyes. “You’ll just leave again, like everyone else!” The younger boy slammed his closed fists against the wooden table, rattling the three place settings.

“Delsin!” A shocked gasped rang from the door, turning sharply Delsin raised his teary eyes towards the woman who had been caring for him all his life, especially after the accident. “Betty-“

 “Don’t ‘Betty’ me young man! Apologize to your brother for yelling at him. You know Reggie is doing the best he can.” Betty reprimanded softly, trying to both set Delsin straight and calm him down.

“I’m sorry Reg.” Delsin said looking down at his bare feet. Reggie encircled him with his arm and brought Delsin’s face into his broad chest. “No harm done Del, It’s alright. You are going through a lot.”

 “Now, good morning you both. Who wants pancakes?” Betty said smiling, flipping the freshly cooked pancakes on to a plate besides her frying pan.

 

___________

 

 

It wasn’t until later that evening that Reggie burst into Delsin’s bedroom, shouting, “Twenty! Twenty, Delsin! How in the world did you manage to get caught tagging twenty times! I have only been away for a month, and yet Betty tells me, you’ve been taken in twenty times!” Delsin stared at him with wide eyed, never having seen his older brother so furious or ashamed.

“Reg! Reg. I’m sorry,” Delsin croaked, voice cracking as his eyes began to tear up. Curling in on himself, Delsin continued to mumble “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry,” repeatedly. 

“Sorry won’t fix anything Delsin! You are damaging the property of other people! You are being arrested! Don’t you realize what you are doing to yourself! You could be put in jail for this shit, Del!” Reggie screamed, his voice growing louder with each additional word. “What about me, Del! How am I supposed to become a cop, if you are known to all of Salmon Bay as ‘the delinquent!?’”

Delsin bolted up in a fit of rage screaming, “I’m sorry I ruined your future Reggie! I didn’t realize I had done it again. Ya know, after I got our parents killed! It’s always all my fault! Isn’t it!” He turned towards the window furious, forcefully pushing it open, Delsin climbed through shouting, “I guess I’ll just get out of your life Reggie, since I seem to constantly ruin it!” 

“Wait! Delsin!” Reggie began to call after him, shell shocked after the younger’s outburst. “Delsin!" He ran towards the now open window, but when he peered through it he couldn’t see Delsin anywhere. Reggie ran downstairs calling “Betty! Betty, do you know where Delsin would have went!”

 “Hmm,” she hummed “lately he has been up on the cannery roof after school most days. He may be up there.” Reggie began to rush towards the front door when Betty said, “And Reggie… Fix this.” She gazed at him with a harsh but loving look in her eyes. 

“I will.” He said, rushing to his car.

 

___________

 

Meanwhile, Delsin was running with watery eyes towards the salmon cannery, breathless and angrily sobbing. “I didn’t want this!” he screamed at the sky, “Any of this!”

Suddenly all he could here was sirens and a loud speaker spewing a prerecorded voice he had only heard when Betty watched the late night news. In the distance, Delsin could see a frenzy of dark smoke and bright amber sparks, speeding down the road towards him. In an instance he was surrounded by hot, hot air, suffocating him.

Behind him he heard a familiar voice shout “Delsin!”

Large arms grasped his neck, and the large man holding Delsin shouted “Just let me go! If you let me go, the boy will be fine!” Struggling, Delsin began to claw at the Conduit’s smoking arms in an attempt to escape.

Reggie watched as Delsin, his little brother, his whole world, struggled against the large, Southern man holding him hostage. He however felt hope rise in his gut as a significant amount of D.U.P. soldiers rapidly approached, armed and ready. Again the man began to shout, “Now, I would be careful with them there guns, wouldn’t wanna hurt the kid, would ya?” Delsin started to fight the hold more fiercely, until he grasped the man’s hand. Both Delsin’s and the nameless Conduit’s arms began to glow with fire and smoke as they both dropped to the ground. “Delsin!” Reggie screamed in horror as he watched his brother crumple to the pavement. 

The D.U.P. soldiers cautiously approached the two limb bodies, one lurched forward clasping the man’s wrists together while another placed strange looking restraints on the Conduit’s arms and hands. As they began to drag the now limp body towards the hulking gray and yellow van, Delsin began to regain consciousness, he groaned as he sat up, and Reggie began to run towards him, when Delsin’s small body began to smoke.

“What’s going on!” he shouted, “What’s happening to me!” He was suddenly surrounded by men with guns.

“Code Yellow!” one of the soldiers shouted into a radio “Another Bio-Terrorist has been sighted! Requesting backup!” Delsin attempted to run away but his body flickered in between smoke and normal. He looked down towards his palms, terrified. The men came towards him yelling into their radios. Delsin stood petrified as one of the soldiers encased his feet in concrete and another wrestled his trembling hands into a set of restraints.

Reggie was being held back by two of the D.U.P soldiers, while he shouted “That’s my brother! Let me go! Delsin! Let me go! I have to help him!” Reggie fought and twisted, but he could not break free. He watched helplessly as the men placed not only the man attempted to hold Delsin captive, but also Delsin himself, into the armored vehicle.

Delsin continued to shout, “Please, someone, anyone! Please tell me what’s happening to me!” Finally, one of the escorting officers turned to the boy saying, “Kid, You’re going to Curdun Cay.”

 


	2. Pushed Out of the Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delsin is brought to Curdun Cay. He is still incredibly confused about the proceedings of his arrest. Life keeps rolling downhill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Intrusive examination, confinement and violence
> 
> Sorry for the wait! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I am glad to inform you that Chapter Three is already in the works. this is my first time authoring a public fanfiction, so I have to learn to adapt to the schedule. I am trying to make each chapter longer, but I am having some difficulties with that, but I shall work on that!

 

The escorting D.U.P. soldiers refused to answer anymore of his questions. Delsin’s mind whirred with the painful memories he had seen in the man… Hank’s mind, and unending questions that had yet to be answered. _How did this happen? How did I become a Conduit? How did I see that man’s memories? What is Curdun Cay?_

He cringed as his brain was barraged with recollections of the painful life the unconscious man next to him had led. Every gunshot wound, years of imprisonment, leaving his daughter, every moment reverberated painfully through Delsin’s chest. He was startled out of his spiraling thoughts when the vehicle came to a sharp stop.

For the first time since entering the van, Delsin looked up and out the barred windows of the armored vehicle. His breath caught when his eyes scaled the massive structure looming over them, and his heart sped up as the steel doors of the van were wrenched open, and he was roughly yanked out of seat by a stone covered man holding a large gun.

 With a wavering voice Delsin began to protest, “Wha- what’s going on? Wh-where are you taking me?” he said shakily. The man who had removed him from his seat took a shaking arm and shoved him towards an intimidating metal enclosure where a large examination table stood in the center. His dark beanie was abruptly ripped from his head causing his long dark hair to veil his fearful eyes. “What are you d-doing?” Delsin stuttered, “Give that back-ck!”

 “Shut up, Bio-Terrorist.” The aggressive soldier said as he dragged Delsin by his hair towards the tiled area that sat in the corner of the room. Delsin winced as his scalp was painful wrenched, and began to protest before two pairs of gloved hands tore his clothing off, leaving him shivering in his shoes and underwear. Delsin looked up in horror, but before he could escape their taut grip, he was shoved under a freezing stream of water.

 Delsin began to cough and sputter as the icy spray burned his throat. The large hands grasping his upper arms tightened as Delsin attempted to scurry away from the cold water. “Please, just let me go!” Delsin stammered desperately. Abruptly, he was tugged towards the steel examination table, where an orange jump suit and pair of sneakers lay.

He whipped around when he heard the mechanical sound of a door closing, and a gruff voice broadcasted over a static speaker, saying “You have one minute to change. If you choose not to wear the items we have provided you, you will not receive another set of garments.” His hand restraints released and dropped to the floor, and Delsin hurriedly began to dress his trembling body. The clothing hung off his petite frame, obviously designed for a full grown adult, rather than a thirteen-year-old boy.

Within the next minute, the speakers sounded again, the same gruff voice spoke again, saying, “Place your hands in your power restricting cuffs again. Do not resist, or offensive measures will be taken.” Fearful of the consequences that face him if he chose to refuse, Delsin inserted his shaking hands into the restraints. His body lurched forward as the cuffs tightened, his vision clouding for a moment. Behind him, Delsin heard the door open again, and a group of unarmed soldiers entered the room, along with two women, one dressed in black the, other in white.

 The woman in white set her aluminum brief case on to the table. Opening it slowly, she extracts a syringe filled with a colorless liquid. Delsin’s eyes widened dramatically, and he began to back away from the collection of people before him. Two of the soldiers lunged forward, tackling Delsin to the ground. He began to hyperventilate, eyes twitching around the room as the woman approached him with the filled syringe.

 Suddenly, Delsin felt a sharp pinch in his arm. His vision started to fade, as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness he heard a sharp female voice say, “Hmm, fear of needles, how interesting. Add that to his file.”

 

_____________

 

When Delsin awoke, he was lying on a thin mattress in a small room with mirrored walls, restraints removed. He slowly sat up, blinking confusedly, memories of the previous day flooding his mind. Delsin looked around the barren cell and sighed, running his hand through his hair. He stood up as he heard a loud beep sound from the front of the room.

“Please, place your restraints on.” A monotone female voice said. Delsin cautiously approached the small desk in the corner of the room where the yellow cuffs sat. He slipped his hands in, bracing himself for the brief clouded vision. Once the restraints locked into place, the door slid open. One of the women from the previous day walked into the small room holding a clipboard in one hand.

Delsin raised his eyes to the redheaded woman stammering a muttered, “Who are you?” The woman looked into to his eyes before replying “I could ask you the same. I will tell you who I am, if you answer some questions for me.”

Gazing wearily at her, “I don’t have much of a choice do I?” He whispered dejectedly. He walked over to the thin bed again and sat down on the coarse sheets. “Ask away,” Delsin murmured, staring at the ground and wringing his hands.

“Alright, let’s start. Shall we?” she taunted, confidence obvious in her voice. “What is your name?”

 

_____________

 

After a series of arbitrary questions: name, birthdate, ethnicity, familial relations, etc. The woman asked the question he had been asking himself since the moment he spontaneous began smoke, “What is your power?”

Delsin drew a deep breath, sighing “I don’t know, it just kind of happened…” He shrugged his shoulders awkwardly as he felt the scrutinizing gaze of the trench coat clad woman.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’” she seethed, becoming frustrated with visibly uncomfortable boy.

“I just, I just touched that guy’s hand. Hank, I think his name was, and I could see his memories.” Delsin shivered at the recollection of the haunting thoughts. “And, when I woke up. I just started to smoke.” He said, silently pleading the woman to believe him.

 Her previously angry face began to stretch with a smug grin. She looked towards him with indecipherable eyes. “Hello Delsin Rowe, my name is Brooke Augustine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, loves!

**Author's Note:**

> Please give me feedback. Thank you, loves


End file.
